Since this is the largest Marcus Cole thread can I suggest renaming it Marcus Cole with no question marks and merging The Marcus Cole thread and the other smaller Marcus, from Babylon 5, related threads into this one?

Okay I just need to say the above because I recently had a personal Marcus epiphany and I wanted to share it. I searched and came up with a host of "Marcus" related threads and couldn't decide which one to put it in. This being the longest "Marcus from Babylon 5" thread I chose it.

I was recently chatting with Shan'waia over on JMS News, I think she is registered here but hasn't posted yet. We were both at the 20TH Anniversary Celebration at Space City Con in Galveston, TX in 2014. She was dressed as a Ranger. We discussed how she felt her Ranger attire was lacking. I disagreed because I think it seems obvious that not every Ranger uniform is exactly the same. There are clearly general themes and guidelines, but not all of the patterns and colors are, for lack of a better term, uniform. So for some reason this conversation triggered me thinking about Marcus in a different way than I ever had before.

I will say straight out that, in the past, I always thought Marcus was one of the poorest constructed characters in the B5 Universe. He always gave me this inconsistent vibe; one minute he is the deeply serious and brooding tragic romantic hero and the next the dancing clown. This coupled with an idea in my head that the Rangers were akin to Jedi or Ninjas or whatever I feel may have given me a false impression of Marcus.

(SIDE NOTE: This is my first big post. If you have evidence to the contrary; or think I am wrong; or think I am just plain crazy please let me know. I am here to discuss. This isn't about me trying to tell YOU what to think about Babylon 5. I don't know everything about Babylon 5. I don't think I want to know EVERYTHING about Babylon 5 and the personal lives of those whom created it. When something seems interesting or I am questioning something I talk about it. Sometimes I already know the answer to a question I ask, but that doesn't mean I don't want to hear what others have to say on the topic, nor does that mean I know my answer is right. I just want to talk about it. And yes, things I talk about often have little real substance or meaning. They are often speculation, opinion, and flat out very boring to read - like the last several sentences you just read.)

So after putting out that long disclaimer for everyone to consider in the future when they see a post with the ID Looney above it, I will say that I am now thinking about Marcus in terms of a spy movie. I am thinking about Marcus in terms of an infiltrator, a chameleon, and a hub of information. I am thinking of him has the Minbari equivalent of someone in the CIA. I am now thinking of Marcus as someone who has to blend in, keep lines of communication flowing, and REALLY be able to defend himself if it comes down to it. I am looking at him in a whole new light because I stopped thinking about all Rangers being 'uniform'. The roller coaster from one end of the spectrum to the other that I used to see seems to fit so much better in this new schism.

Having said this I think we can all agree that much of the way the show presented the Rangers, especially from the Minbari perspective, was like Ninjas, Jedi, or whatever. Once you put them into the context of some of the jobs they were doing in the show, like everything Marcus has going on, one can come to the conclusion that the training is training and the job might be something completely different.

SO LONG STORY VERY LONG, I have come to see the character of Marcus Cole in a completely different light. Yes I might be late to the table on this one, but I hope I still get to eat. (That one is weird even for me.)

Rangers kind of struck me as being undercover ops, yes. And they are the intelligence network for our "good guys", so I'd say your observations are spot-on.

One thing I'd add, however is: always remember that characters in B5 are not necessarily the epitome of perfection types. I see Marcus as a trained and excellent Ranger, but a flawed and in many ways broken man. So inconsistencies could be considered from a perspective of how close or far from his ideal he is behaving. He was a very conflicted man, I would imagine this would lead to a very conflicted Ranger. But he always knew what action was required to get the result he wanted. So, if he was a clown, it was the Shakespearean type. Where the Clown is the smartest guy in the room.

One thing I'd add, however is: always remember that characters in B5 are not necessarily the epitome of perfection types. I see Marcus as a trained and excellent Ranger, but a flawed and in many ways broken man. So inconsistencies could be considered from a perspective of how close or far from his ideal he is behaving. He was a very conflicted man, I would imagine this would lead to a very conflicted Ranger. But he always knew what action was required to get the result he wanted. So, if he was a clown, it was the Shakespearean type. Where the Clown is the smartest guy in the room.

SO what is the criteria on posts like the one above? Do we just report them and say they are spam? Do we need to report every post to have them removed from my sight? I mean this person actually made half an effort in the Game of Thrones thread, but it still all looks like spam to me.

SO what is the criteria on posts like the one above? Do we just report them and say they are spam? Do we need to report every post to have them removed from my sight? I mean this person actually made half an effort in the Game of Thrones thread, but it still all looks like spam to me.

Just hit the Report post sign and report as spam. You can see he as made an identical word for word post in another thread.

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“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” — H. L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, 26 July 1920